Grandpa John R. Caywood built a rock house over a natural water spring that came from the side of a hill just a few yards west of their house. Grandpa made a basin inside the cave house to catch and hold the water. It had a sandy bottom that helped filter the water. The spring ran constantly and kept the basin full of cool fresh water. The excess water spilled over and ran downhill toward the east of the house where grandpa had built a wood frame spring house close to the kitchen. It also had a sand filled basin, but much larger than the rock house. Grandma kept her milk and churns filled with cream in the cool water which she later churned to butter when it was needed. They also cooled their homegrown watermelons and vegetables in season. The inside of the spring house was very cool and a great place to go to cool down on a hot day. The water was crystal clear and great for drinking. One time, when I was small, I decided to get a cool drink from the spring house. As I dipped the dipper that hung on the wall into the water, a big toad hopped out from behind the churn. Suddenly, I was not very thirsty. He had burrowed his way in under the foundation. The springs on this farm is what drew grandpa and grandma to the farm. They traded the land they staked and owned near Gibbon, Oklahoma in the 1893 Oklahoma Land Run for this one northwest of Sand Creek. It was school land, land that was set aside to rent. The proceeds went to the Oklahoma School systems. In the mid 1940’s with the help of daddy, grandpa ran a small pipe from the west spring through the house. A plan was devised to have a continual supply of fresh water in the house. A spigot was placed on the pipe in the kitchen to be turned on to fill an old separator tank basin. This tank replaced a water bucket. The water was used for drinking water and kitchen use. From there, the piped water ran on east and filled the tank of a flush toilet that sat close by a bedroom. A sunken oil barrel on the outside of the house served as the cesspit. The piped water ran from the commode to the outside of the house where it provided water for grandpa’s flower garden. He made channel water ways through the garden. When the flowers had enough water he opened a water way and let the water run on down the hill. The ingenuity of all of this came from grandpa and our daddy. After grandma died on Dec 21st, 1948, Grandpa was very bored and lonely, so his flower gardens took up his lonely hours. The above picture shows only part of the beauty of his flowers as well as yours truly in 1947. Grandpa John truly had a green thumb.

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Created December 20, 2020

Updated: 14 June, 2021

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